Packaging and packs



April 12, 1955 M. s. sPRlNGATE PACKAGING AND PACKS' Filed Aug. 31, 1951 w INVENTO'R "Law/M SSPIILm/I By f d ma?,

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United States Patent O 1 2,706,039 PACKAGING AND PACKS Maurice Stanley Sprngate, Oaklands, England, assignor to Aviation Developments Limited,

English joint-stock company Application August 31, 1951, Serial No.

6 Claims. (Cl. 20G- 65) This invention relates to packaging and packs and its object is to provide an improved pack, container for a pack, and a method of packaging, particularly applicable to articles such as tubular rivets which are required to be threaded over a mandrel, or the equivalent, to be used, for example, in riveting guns.

According to the invention a pack comprises a number of articles disposed in a single row, and a tubular container, threaded thereover and deformed at intervals along its length so as to engage each of the articles and hold it in the container.

According to another article in the row has at largement.

Preferably, the tubular container is deformed locally by being subjected to transverse pressure after it has been threaded over the row of articles; thus each article is caused to penetrate or indent the container.

The tubular container is preferably formed with a readily openable joint or line of weakness along its length. Conveniently, the tubular container may comprise a strip of material which is bent or bowed along its length into substantially tubular form, with its longitudinal edges presented to one another, and a second strip of material secured to the outer longitudinal margins of the rst strip and joining them. The first strip may be of paper or cardboard or like semi-rigid material, and the second strip may be adhesive tape.

According to the invention a method of packing light articles each of which is, in at least one locality, of enlarged transversed dimensions, consists in placing them in a single row in a tubular container of material which is more easily deformable than the articles, and then subjecting the container to transverse pressure whereby each article therein is caused to deform, penetrate or indent the container.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the following specification, while the broad scope oi the invention is pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a tubular container threaded over a mandrel loaded with tubular rivets and consisting of a strip of semi-rigid material overlapped by woven adhesive tape.

Figure 2 is an end view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view in elevation of a pack according to the invention, illustrating the indented container filled with rivets but with the mandrel withdrawn.

Figure 4 is an end view of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is an elevation of the pack showing the mandrel threaded through a row of tubular rivets, and a small portion of the strip of adhesive tape torn away, showing how the pack is opened.

As shown in Figures l to 5 of the drawing a tubular container 1 of semi-rigid material is slipped over a mandrel 2 having a plug end or pear-shaped head 3, on to which are threaded, tail tirst, tubular headed rivets 4. The container 1 with the mandrel 2 and rivets 4 is then placed between a die and a rubber punch (not shown) and transverse pressure is applied to the container 1, thus causing the tub lar rivets 4 to indent the container deform it permanently into the flattened arrow-sectional shape shown in Figure 4. The mandrel 2 is then withdrawn from the rivets in the deformed container 1, which latter with rivets held rm- 1y therein constitutes a pack 5.

The container 1 of the pack 5 is formed from a strip 6 of a semi-rigid material which is bent or bowed along its length into substantially tubular form, s o that its longitudinal edges meet at 7, and .a second strip 8 of permanently plastic adhesive tape 1s stuckover the meetlng edges 7 of the rst strip 6, thus forming a tubular container 1.

In using feature of the invention, each least one transverse, local en the pack 5 to load the magazine of a riveting Herts, England, an

latented Apr. 12, 1955 of the tape 8, the meeting edges 7 cut away on both extremities as indicated at 9 in Fig- It will be appreciated that with the pack illustrated a great deal of time is saved when opening the pack, which is of considerable improvement on aircraft construction where tubular rivets are used extensively.

The term semi-rigid as applied to the material of the container designates the quality of being sufficiently rigid to retain the tubular form of the container and to maintain the rivets axially aligned with each other, while permitting limited deformation or indenting by the heads of the rivets without breaking.

The term in end-to-end relation is to be interpreted to mean that the articles are aligned axially and with sufficiently close spacing so that the container material when compressed about the articles does not close 0E the space between adjacent articles.

I claim:

l. A tubular rivet pack comprising a number of tubular rivets in end-to-end relation in a single row, each rivet having a radially extending head at one end thereof, and a tubular container formed of semi-rigid material surrounding said rivets and being permanently deformed inwardly in the spaces between said heads, the deformed portions of said container located on opposite sides of the rivet heads retaining the rivets in said container and maintaining the rivets in axial alignment with each other.

2. A pack as claimed in claim l, wherein the container comprises a strip of material which is bent transversely of its length into a tubular form with its longitudinal edges presented together, and a second strip of material secured to the outer longitudinal margins of the first strip and joining them.

3. A pack as claimed in claim 2, wherein the second strip is secured by permanently-plastic adhesive.

4. A pack as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first strip is of cardboard and the second strip is of adhesive tape.

5. A tubular rivet pack as claimed in claim l wherein said container embodies means providing a readily openable joint throughout its length.

6. The method of forming a package of headed tubular articles in which the articles are maintained in axial alignment by the rigidity of the wrapping material, which method consists in initially supporting the tubular articles in axial alignment by feeding the articles onto a mandrel, surrounding said aligned articles with a tubular container formed of a semi-rigid material which is more easily deformable than the articles, and subjecting the container to transverse compression between pressing members formed of yieldable material to permanently collapse the wall of the container about the head portions of the tubular articles and thereby to lock each tubular article within said container, said container being sufficiently rigid to maintain said articles in axial alignment when said mandrel is withdrawn from said aligned articles.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNlTED STATES PATENTS 696,614 Wheatley Apr. 1, 1902 727,786 Grace May 12, 1903 1,152,471 Anthony Sept. 7, 1915 1,386,398 Davis Aug. 2, 1921 1,387,839 Davis Aug. 16, 1921 1,560,938 Lund Nov. l0, 1925 2,340,260 Clunan Jan. 25, 1944 2,481,814 Brecker Sept. 13, 1949 2,486,759 Pfeiffer Nov. 1, 1949 2,503,518 Slaughter Apr. 11, 1950 2,570,059 Hurxthal et al. Oct. 2, 1951 2,594,287 Budd Apr. 29, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 186,844 Great Britain Oct. 12, 1922 

